Apparatus for wax coating scientific glassware



WQ E. KIRIJAN Nov. 12, 1957 APPARATUS FOR WAX COATING SCIENTIF ICGLASSWARE Filed Oct. 4, 1954 FM-L lfzfl a fi/LENTOB av (BY W z [z M wATTZNEYS United atesPaIentDl --Wa lter EyKirijan, Winelapd; 'J.,assignor tojj Owens- =-lllinois Glass cd ip ny t obiipoi'afioiiofifiliid t hereby providing'the desired graduations. lncide toperformance of-thetlin tp, gthe articles are supported at" ,,o r chucksv vhich frequently score oi ch p the wax gapd exposeYglass surfaceswhich should not 'gli r ec tact ,t'he hydrofluoric acid,'for--thelobyiousi such would result in undesiredet'c hing pf the ep m hof the articles. 'In"the case of pipettes or similar-openendedcylindrical articles, it is also necessary to seal the ends againstentrance of the hydrofluoric acid to the interior, since otherwiseundesired etching of the interior surfaces would also occur.

In consequence of the above it has been the practice, following the stepof lining and numbering the wax coated tubes, to retouch the endsmanually and by a separate operation, seal such ends and anchor them ina so-called nail board which serves as a support for a plurality oftubes while the free ends thereof are dipped into a liquid wax bath andlater during immersion of the tubes in the etching bath of hydrofluoricacid.

An object of my invention is the provision of a novel method andapparatus for materially facilitating the socalled retouching operationand mechanizing the same, whereby the operators efiiciency andproductive capacity may be very materially increased and a substantialsaving in production costs effected.

It is also an object to provide a novel apparatus in which theconventional nail board support for the tubes, after having tubesloosely positioned thereon, is dipped into a bath of liquid wax to coat,seal, and anchor one end of the tubes in the nail board and then afterthe wax has set, inverting such board and mechanically lowering same toimmerse the other end of the tubes in the wax bath to effect bothsealing of the open end and coating of any scored portions.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed outhereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary sectional elevational view showing a nail boardwith pipettes positioned thereupon preparatory to immersion of the boardinto a body of liquid wax for the purpose of coating and sealing thelower ends and anchoring same in the nail board;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the nail board invertedafter anchoring the pipettes therein, the

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whose upper surface is exposed; an in a:12.t r sunpqrtingtt hulan la sert el az itaml. a.

movable leveling y 14 nter:sledsosunp tzthea itbca in either of thepositions shown in Figs. 1 and; 2 while ha. ve heent-cpatedtwlt ulc a-hl1.; the z-.JI' mQY acci ntal y egencnalahandling.

.--thrionghoutathe.r tonchin hope at ean m-nnmersionaof tthe arteies;tinvthec qhi aqbat scfi t-zfihqnail board andarticles-aremouedgelativqtq,thg bath of liquidtwax.

-a st: at ehetetofc iz:t te e niastte ap t taabu .sarticles 13,,prior,,to lacenrentn the he a s r ci qn a chucking. inntheqlininga and.numberi achine o/ r ilsli u aunc i-t :1 article113 intEig. 4.

fii r i; nail: board :12awh esuas r i:th e cl tanner-is,acid-anaymptisea res ansnl nniem e rs id onaonetsnrfacetwith alplur li mpfi eceil recesses are provided. These spikes or nails are intended to enterone end of the tubular articles 13 and support the latter more or lessloosely until the space between the periphery of the article and theside Wall of the recess has been filled with wax 18 (as shown in Fig.4). This wax filler 18 performs the two-fold function of anchoring thearticle 13 in the recess and sealing off the opening to the interior atthis end so as to prevent entry of the etching acid to the interior ofthe article. It is understood of course that the diameter of each of therecesses 16 is slightly greater than that of the article to be supportedthereon so as to provide adequate space to accommodate sufiicient wax tofunction as above explained. After one of these leveling trays has beenfilled with the tubular articles, pipettes, for example, it is placed inthe leveling tray 14 as shown in Fig. 1, preparatory to being loweredinto the wax bath 11.

This leveling tray 14 is an open rectangular metal frame suspended froma guide rod 19 which extends vertically upward through a pair ofstationary guides 20 and at its upper end is connected to a cable 21running over a pair of pulleys 22 and thence downwardly for connectionto a counterweight 23. The leveling tray is provided at its lower endwith a support 24 upon which the nail board may rest with the pipettesprojecting upwardly therefrom. While in this position, the leveling trayis manually lowered sufliciently to completely submerge the nail board12 in the bath of wax 11 and permit the wax to flow into the spacesabout the lower ends of the pipettes and thereby fill the latter andanchor the articles to the nail board. Spaced above the support 24 is apair of horizontally spaced angle iron rails 25 which are intended tosupport the filled nail board when the latter is in an invertedposition, as shown in Fig. 2. It is understood that prior to thepositioning of the nail board and pipettes (as shown in Fig. 2) the waxfillers 18 have set sufliciently to prevent premature displacement ofthe pipettes. The next step very obviously is to lower the leveling trayas illustrated in Fig. 2, so that the tip ends of the pipettes projectinto the liquid wax bath. .At the proper time the leveling tray iselevated and during such movement, the excess wax flows by gravity fromthe tip ends of the pipettes and that remaining on the pipettes recoatsthe lower end and simultaneously seals the opening. Cooling air directedagainst the tubes by means of a fan (not shown) may be utilized toaccelerate setting of the wax. Following this operation the nail boardwith the pipettes thereon is removed from the leveling tray andtransported to another location where at the convenience of the operatorthe pipettes, still supported by the nail board is immersed in thehydrofluoric acid bath for the purpose of etching the exposed surfacesof the glass articles. After such etching has been completed, the wax isremoved in any preferred or conventional manner, leaving the exteriorsurface with only the clearly etched lines and numerals thereon.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a container for a bath of molten wax providing anexposed upper surface of such bath, a leveling tray positioned over saidcontainer and mounted for movement vertically relative to the latter, acarrier for wax coated glass tubes whose ends are to be dipped into thewax for additional coating and sealing, said carrier comprising a boardprovided on one side with a plurality of recesses and spikes individualto the recesses projecting axially outward from the latter, said spikesadapted to enter one end of such tubes and the tubes being looselyreceived in said recesses, a pair of vertically spaced supports on theleveling tray, said carrier adapted to be positioned upon the lowersupport with the tubes projecting upwardly during downward movement ofthe leveling tray into the bath of wax whereby the latter may 2,812,740.I, p r

how by gravity into the recesses to coat, seal, and anchor the lowerends of the tubes in said recesses, and the upper support being adaptedto receive the carrier with the tubes suspended therefrom preparatory todipping the free ends of such tubes into the molten wax bath.

2. In combination, a container for a bath of molten wax providing anexposed upper surface of such bath, a leveling tray positioned over saidcontainer and mounted for movement vertically relative to the latter, acarrier for wax-coated glass tubes whose ends are to be dipped into thewax for additional coating and sealing, said carrier comprising a boardprovided on one side with a plurality of recesses and spikes individualto the recesses projecting axially outward from the latter, said spikesadapted to enter one end of such tubes and the tubes being looselyreceived in said recesses, and means forming a part of the leveling trayfor supporting the carrier in either of two positions in one of whichthe tubes project upwardly during downward movement of the leveling trayinto the bath of wax whereby the latter may flow by gravity into therecesses to coat, seal, and anchor the lower ends of the tubes in saidrecesses while in the other position the tubes are suspended from saidcarrier preparatory to having their free lower ends dipped into themolten wax bath.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

